I didn't move.
Not because I was brave.
Because my body had very sensibly decided that moving would get me killed.
The mist shifted again, thick blue currents sliding past broken stone like a lazy tide. Somewhere to my left, something walked. Slow, deliberate steps scraping faintly against the ground.
Too heavy to be rubble and way too rhythmic to be wind.
I crouched lower, pressing myself against the base of the shattered statue, barely daring to breathe. My heart thudded in my ears, loud enough that I was convinced it could hear it.
'Okay—' I thought calmly. 'That's a Mana Fiend.'
'Low-rank, hopefully. This Mana Zone wasn't supposed to host anything too bad.'
'...In hindsight, "Supposed to" sounds a bit vague.'
The creature drifted into view between ripples of mist.
I didn't see it all at once, just pieces. A hunched silhouette. Limbs bent at the wrong angles. Faint blue veins pulsing beneath translucent skin, glowing in time with the mana fog.
Its head twitched slightly as it passed.
I froze completely.
After an agonizing second, it moved on, disappearing back into the haze.
I didn't breathe again until my lungs started screaming.
"…Nope," I mouthed silently. "I Didn't see you. You didn't see me. This is a mutual agreement."
I stayed still for a full minute. Then another.
That should've been my cue to leave.
Any sane person would've left.
'...Unfortunately, sanity didn't pay rent.'
I glanced at the scattered debris around me — rusted metal, broken equipment, worthless junk that barely justified the risk. My jaw tightened.
'But I can't leave with nothing.'
That thought burned hotter than the fear.
"I'll just be quick," I whispered. "In and out. Five minutes."
'Liar.'
I slipped away from the statue and ducked beneath a half-collapsed wall into what looked like an old storage area. The space was cramped, cluttered with shattered crates and fallen shelves. The air felt heavier here — mana pooling instead of drifting.
'Fantastic!' I thought. 'Just the kind of place mana fields love.'
I pried open the nearest crate.
Empty.
The next held warped tools and brittle components that crumbled the moment I touched them.
"…You're really testing me today," I muttered.
Another sound echoed outside. Slow footsteps, yet closer now.
I froze, listening as the creature passed the entrance. I could hear it breathing. A wet, uneven sound, like air dragged through damaged lungs.
My stomach twisted.
'Leave. Now.'
Instead, my eyes caught on something half-buried beneath a collapsed shelf.
A faint glimmer.
My breath hitched.
'No. Don't do this. Don't get hopeful.'
I waited until the footsteps faded, then crawled forward inch by inch. My fingers brushed against cold stone, then something smoother.
I tugged gently.
A small fragment slid free from the rubble.
It was stone… but not? Its surface was etched with intricate runes I didn't recognize, lines too precise to be natural. Faint light pulsed within it, warm and steady, like a heartbeat slowed to a crawl.
I stared.
"…Oh."
The fragment rested in my palm, heavier than it looked. The mana around it felt different, not wild like the mist, but dense. Controlled.
Almost... Ancient?
I swallowed.
'I have no idea what this is, but I know two things immediately.'
'First, it was definitely valuable.'
'Second, I probably spent all my luck this week by getting this little treasure.'
My lips slowly curled into a grin despite myself.
"Okay," I whispered reverently. "You're a expensive one aren't you?"
I turned the fragment over, admiring the rune etched into its surface. Even through the grime and age, the craftsmanship was unmistakable. This wasn't scavenger trash. This was collector bait.
Warm meals for weeks kind of bait.
I carefully slipped it into my inner pocket, patting it once like it might vanish.
"See?" I muttered. "Totally worth it."
My heart felt lighter than it had all night. The fear eased, replaced by that familiar, dangerous thrill. The satisfaction of a good find.
'Time to leave,' I told myself.
'Right now. Before I push my luck.'
I turned toward the exit.
That's when the mist at the doorway moved.
Not drifting.
Parting.
A slow shadow stretched across the stone floor.
The breathing returned, closer now. Louder.
Something stepped into the storage room.
My grin vanished.
"…shit" I whispered.
The fragment felt warm inside my pocket as the abominations silhouette emerged from the haze.
And suddenly, I had the sinking feeling that whatever I'd just stolen wasn't really worth all that much compared to my life.
The shadow stepped fully into the room.
The Mana fiend was taller than I'd expected. Not massive, but long, its proportions stretched unnaturally, like a corpse pulled too far by unseen hands. Its limbs were thin, almost skeletal, yet corded with dense muscle that shifted beneath translucent skin. Veins of dull blue light pulsed along its body, branching like cracks in glass, feeding directly from the mana-saturated air.
Its head tilted.
There were no eyes where eyes should have been. Just smooth, pallid flesh split by a vertical slit that opened and closed as it breathed. Each inhale dragged mana from the mist, the glow along its veins brightening in response.
I couldn't move.
My thoughts scattered, colliding into nothing useful. Run and hide and don't breathe all screamed at once, canceling each other out. My legs felt weak, disconnected, like they belonged to someone else.
It took one step forward.
Stone crunched softly beneath its foot.
My chest tightened. The fragment in my pocket pulsed faintly, warm against my ribs, and I had the sudden, irrational certainty that the Mana fiend knew exactly where I was.
Not just where I stood.
But what I had.
I took a slow step back.
The sound was barely audible, but the fiend stopped.
Its head twitched sharply toward me.
Panic surged, hot and blinding. I stumbled backward instead of stepping, my heel catching on broken stone. I windmilled uselessly, barely keeping my balance.
'Idiot. Idiot!'
The Mana fiend moved.
It didn't charge. It literally glided, limbs bending in impossible ways as it crossed half the room in a heartbeat. A low vibration filled the air, felt more than heard, pressing against my skull until my teeth buzzed.
I turned and ran.
My shoulder slammed into the doorway as I burst back into the courtyard, lungs burning, vision narrowing to a tunnel of blue haze and shattered stone. The ruins blurred past as I sprinted blindly, feet slipping on dust and debris.
Behind me, something scraped.
Then came the sound of pursuit, wet, uneven impacts striking stone far faster than I should've been able to outrun.
'Ugh, im Too slow!'
I veered sharply, ducking beneath a fallen beam, barely avoiding a swipe that shattered stone where my head had been an instant earlier. Shards exploded outward, slicing across my arms and cheek.
Pain barely registered.
I ran.
My breath tore from my chest in ragged gasps. The mist thickened, clinging to my skin, burning my lungs with every inhale. My vision swam as panic drowned out any sense of direction.
'Left? No—! right—? Fuck it, Just keep your stupid legs moving Eli!'
The Mana fiend's presence loomed behind me, suffocating, relentless. I could feel the pressure of its mana like a weight on my back, crushing, inescapable.
My foot slipped and the rune i had found earlier slipped out as I fell.
I went down hard, the impact driving the air from my lungs in a painful wheeze. I scrambled, hands slipping on stone, heart hammering so violently I thought it might burst.
The fiend landed in front of me.
The ground cracked beneath its weight.
I froze.
It loomed over me, veins blazing brighter now, its breathing ragged and eager. Mana gathered around its limbs, condensing into a faint, shimmering distortion.
I knew what that meant.
An attack.
My mind went blank. There was no plan. No trick. No escape. Just the cold, awful realization that I was about to die in a place no one would ever find.
The fragment burned against my chest.
The Mana fiend struck.